Boiler room fuel tank



Aug. 6, 1963 G. L. MULLINS 3,100,082

BOILER ROOM FUEL TANK Filed Jan. 51, 1962 3 3* g m N T :i' w a? m" N N g iii: 8 S 9 & i||

:I g g :h I g8 s t N Q N m l '1 \9 Lb '3 INVENTOR. GLENN L. MULLINS f ylaL9 7 ig z ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,100,082 BQILER ROOM FUEL TANK Glenn L. Mullins, 360 Missouri St., San Francisco, Cali-f. Filed Jan. 31, 1962, Ser. No. 170,010 2 Claims. (Cl. 239278) This invention relates to engine room installations for ships and more particularly to engine room installations on ships which are powered by steam generated by burning fuel oil.

In a large proportion of the naval and merchant marine ships in the world, the ships propulsion system includes a plurality of boilers where steam is generated by the burning of liquid hydrocarbon fuel oils. Generally the engine room area in the ship contains a large number of fuel burners with a group of up to a dozen or more burners being employed for generating steam in each of a plurality of boilers.

In the normal operation of these burners, deposits form in the burners fairly rapidly causing the production of smoke in the combustion products of the fuel oil, and this smoke is undesirable because it tends to clog heat exchangers; it provides unwanted evidence of the location of warships, etc. For these reasons, the fuel oil burners used on ships are normally cleaned quite fre quently. In merchant ships each burner is usually cleaned about once in every four hours while it is in use, and on US. Navy warships each burner is cleaned about once every hour.

To facilitate this cleaning, most ships employ fuel burners of a type, such as the Carolina type burner sold by Babcock and Wilcox Boiler Company, for instance, Where the burner includes a fuel containing portion which may be removed and cleaned periodically. When a burner is cleaned, a crewman generally replaces the removable portion of the burner with a like unit and then cleans the removed portion by first emptying hot fuel which it contains and then washing it with a hydrocarbon solvent. The hot fuel oil is generally deposited in a pail near the burner to avoid spilling fuel oil in the engine room, and for safety reasons, the pail is removed immediately from the engine room area of the ship. The contents of the pail are normally thrown overboard immediately except when the ship is in harbor, and in the latter case, the accumulated oil is kept on the deck of the ship until the ship goes to sea again when the material is finally thrown overboard.

These practices result in substantial inconvenience to the crew of the ship and in the production of a fire hazard where waste oil and/ or solvent are kept on the deck of the ship for any substantial period of time.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means for facilitating the periodic cleaning :of liquid fuel burners in the engine rooms of ships.

It is another object of the invention to provide such means whereby the task of the ships crewmen in periodically cleaning the burners is made as simple as possible so that the crewmen will be more likely to perform the cleaning job as often as it should be performed.

It is another object of the invention to provide such means for facilitating cleaning of burners whereby fire hazards on board the ship may be eliminated as much as possible.

It is another object of the invention to provide such means for facilitating the periodic cleaning of fuel burners in a ship which may be installed as simply and economically as possible and which may employ a minimum amount of equipment in addition to equipment already installed :on most ships.

3,100,082 Patented Aug. 6, 1963 Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partially schematic of the engine room area in a ships hull, and

FIG. 2 is a wiring diagram for an automatic control system which may be used in accordance with this invention.

Referring now in detail to FIG. 1, the portion of a ship in which the apparatus of this invention is adapted to be installed is illustrated as including a hull wall 10 with three boilers 12 mounted in an engine room area in the hull. The engine room area also includes a work bench 14- to which the removable portions of fuel oil burners are normally taken for solvent cleaning. A bank of fuel oil burners (indicated by housing 16) is provided at the base of each of the boilers 12 for heating water in the boilers. The ship is also provided with a source of compressed air which is used for a variety of purposes and which is illustrated by air line as. Additionally, the ship is provided with a rapid ballast system having a rapid ballast pump 20 and a fuel transfer system having a fuel transfer pump 22 for pumping liquid fuel oil to the banks of burners 16.

In accordance with this invention, a liquid receiving funnel 24 is mounted adjacent to each bank of burners 16, and a funnel 26 is mounted adjacent to the work bench 14. A tank 28 is mounted adjacent to the engine room area, preferably under the floor of the engine room, and the tank is connected to all of the funnels 24 and 26 by conduits 30 which contain a manually operable valve 32 and a check valve 34.

A manually operable air gun 36 is mounted at a position adjacent to each of the funnels 24 and is connected to the air supply line 18 by conduits 38. The air supply line 18 is also connected to the tank 28 by conduit 40 which contains a manually operable valve 42 and a normally closed solenoid valve 44.

The tank 28 is provided with a vent pipe 46 which is connected to a discharge pipe 48' in the wall 10 of the ships hull above the water line with communication between the pipes 46 and 48 being provided through a check valve 50, a manually operable valve 52 and a normally open solenoid valve 54.

An exhaust pipe 56 is also mounted in the wall '10 of the ships hull and is connected by conduits 58 through a check valve 60 and a manually operable valve 62 to the bottom of the tank 28. Conduits 64 and 66 are also connected to the bottom of the tank 28 and communicate through manually operable valves 68 and 70, respectively, with the rapid ballast system and fuel transfer system at the intake sides of the pumps 20 and 22 respectively.

It will be apparent that the apparatus thus far illustrated may be used in the following manner. The valves 32 and '52 are normally maintained open, and the valve 42 is normally maintained closed. The valves 68 and 70 are normally maintained closed, and the valve '62 may be left open. When it is necessary for a crewman to clean one of the burners in one of the banks '16 he removes the removable fuel containing portion thereof and replaces it with a like unit, and he empties the hot fuel oil in the removed unit into the adjacent funnel 24. Excess fuel on the burner unit and on the funnel 24 may then be blown into the conduit 30 with a stream of compressed air from the air gun 36 which is mounted adjacent to the funnel. In the course of blowing oil off of the burner unit with the air gun 36, the burner unit will be cooled to a substantial degree thereby eliminating the possibility that the crewman may burn his hands on the unit while carrying it to the work bench 14. The hot oil deposited in the funnel ,24 will flow through the conduit 30 and check valve 34 to the tank 28 where it will be accumulated.

When the dirty burner unit is taken to the work bench 14 it may be washed with a hydrocarbon solvent and the waste solvent deposited in the funnel 26 from which it also flows-to the tank 28.

When a suflicie-nt amount of oil and solvent has been accumulated to fill the tank 28, the tank 28 may be emptied by closing the valves 32 and 52 and opening the valves 42 and 62. In this manner compressed air will be in troduced into the top of the tank 28 through valve 42, and the air pressure in tank 28 will force the accumulated oil and solvent in the tank out through the bottom of the tank from which it will be discharged through pipe 56.

The tank 28 may alternatively be emptied by opening the valve 70 so that the oil and solvent in the tank 28 are drawn into the fuel transfer system of the ship by the pump 22, and as a further alternative the valve 68 may be opened so that the contents of the tank 28, are drawn into the rapid ballast system by the pump 20. Obviously, where it is inconvenient to connect the conduits 64 or 66 to the rapid ballast and fuel "transfer systems at the intake sides of the respective pumps, the conduit-s 64 and 66 may be connected to the systems at the pressure sides of the pumps through suitable venturi pumps which may be connected into the rapid ballast and fuel transfer systems at the pressure sides of the pumps 20 and 22. Where care is taken'by the crew of the ship to keep foreign materials out of the funnels 24 and 26, the emptying of the tank 28 through valve 70 into the fuel transfer system is quite advantageous in that the fuel oil accumulated in the tank can be used rather than be thrown away and because the solvent introduced through funnel 26 into the tank dissolves the heavy hydrocarbons which had formed as deposits on the burners thereby preventing these heavy hydrocarbons from clogging the burners again. When the crewmen have permitted the accumulation of some foreign material in the tank 28 so that it is undesirable to exhaust the contents of the tank into the fuel transfer system, it may be desirable in many instances to empty the tank into the rapid ballast system particularly when the ship is in port audit is desirable to avoid exhausting oil onto the waters of the harbor or an adjacent pier.

When the ship is at sea for extended periods of time, the periodic emptying of the tank 28 may be accomplished automatically by the use of a pair of upper and lower float switches 72 and 74 respectively mounted in the tank 28. Both of the switches 72 and 74 are of a conventional type where a float ball is mounted in the switch in communication with the fluid in the tank and the float ball is lifted to close a pair of electrical contacts when the fluid in the tank rises to the level of the switch or above. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the float switches 72 and 74 are connected to the coil of a double arm relay 76 with the lower float switch 74 being connected through a pair of the arm terminals of the relay. A source 78 of electric current is also connected to the coil of the relay 76 and is connected through the second pair of arm terminals of the relay to the solenoid valves 44 and 54, with a manually operable switch 80 being provided in series with this source 78. When the ship is not in port and it is desira- :ble to empty the tank 28 through the pipe 56 every time the tank 28 is filled, the manually operable switch 80 is closed so that the float switch '72 will close and energize the relay 76 whenever the liquid level in the tank rises to the height of the switch 72. When the relay 76 closes, it will be held closed by switch 74 until the liquid level in the tank is lowered to a point below the switch 74 and the switch 74 opens. While the relay 76 is energized, the solenoid valves 44 and 54 will be energized so that the normally closed valve 44 is opened and the normally open valve 54 is closed. This operation of the valves 44 and 54- will supply compressed air to the top of the tank and prevent escape of the compressed air through the vent 46 so that oil in the tank will be forced out of the bottom of the tank through valve 62. When the ship is in port, the

manually operable switch will be opened to prevent automatic exhaust of oil from the tank 28 through the pipe 56.

The invention may be used in boiler room installations which employ return type burners such as the Carolina type mentioned above where preheated oil flows through the burner and unused oil from the burner is returned to the fuel oil preheater for reuse. The construction of these burners facilitates the replacement of the funnels 24 in the system illustrated by other types of liquid fuel receiving means by which fuel oil is conveyed from individual burners to the tank 128. In these types of installations, a fuel return line may be connected from each burnerto conduits 3G, and an air or steam line may be connected to the burner to blow the oil in the burner into the tank 28 when the burner is not in use.

While one specific embodiment of this invention has been illustrated and described in detail herein it is obvious that many modifications of the structure shown may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a watercraft having a hull with an engine room area therein and a plurality of groups of liquid fuel burners in said engine room area, where each of said burners has a fuel containing portion mounted therein for periodic removal and cleaning, the means (for facilitat-.ing periodic cleaning of said burners which comprises a tank mounted in said hull adjacent to said engine room area, liquid fuel receiving means mounted in said engine [room area adjacent to each of said groups of burners, conduit means containing valve means and connecting each of said fluid receiving means to said tank for conveying fluid from said [receiving means to said tank, a source :of compresed air in said engine room area, selectively operable air delivery means connected to said source and mounted adjacent to each of said fuel receiving means for facilitating the transfer of fuel from a burner to said fuel receiving means and exhaust means connected to said tank for periodically emptying said tank comprising fluid discharge means extending from the bot tom of said tank to a point outside said hull and conduit means containing a selectively operable valve and connecting said source to said tank.

2. In a watercraft having a hull with an engine room area therein and a plurality of groups of liquid fuel burners in said engine room area where each of said burners has a fuel containing portion mounted therein for periodic removal and cleaning, the means for facilitating periodic cleaning of said burners which comprises: a tank mounted in said hull adjacent to said engine room area, a funnel mounted in said engine room area adjacent to each of said groups of burners, conduit means containing valve means and connecting said tank to all of said funnels for conveying fluid deposited in said funnels to said tank, a source of compressed air in said engine room area, selectively operable air gun means connected to said source and mounted adjacent to each of said funnels for spraying a stream of air on one of said fuel containing burner portions after emptying the fuel therein into said funnel, and means for periodically emptying said tank comprising fluid discharge means extending from the bottom of said tank to a point outside said hull and conduit means containing a selectively operable valve and connecting said source of compressed air to said tank.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Babs-on July '7, 

1. IN A WATERCRAFT HAVING A HULL WITH AN ENGINE ROOM AREA THEREIN AND A PLURALITY OF GROUPS OF LIQUID FUEL BURNERS IN SAID ENGINE ROOM AREA, WHERE EACH OF SAID BURNERS HAS A FUEL CONTAINING PORTION MOUNTED THEREIN FOR PERIODIC REMOVAL AND CLEANING, THE MEANS FOR FACILITATING PERIODIC CLEANING OF SAID BURNERS WHICH COMPRISES A TANK MOUNTED IN SAID HULL ADJACENT TO SAID ENGINE ROOM AREA, LIQUID FUEL RECEIVING MEANS MOUNTED IN SAID ENGINE ROOM AREA ADJACENT TO EACH OF SAID GROUPS OF BURNERS, CONDUIT MEANS CONTAINING VALVE MEANS AND CONNECTING EACH OF SAID FLUID RECEIVING MEANS TO SAID TANK FOR CONVEYING FLUID FROM SAID RECEIVING MEANS TO SAID TANK, A SOURCE OF COMPRESSED AIR IN SAID ENGINE ROOM AREA, SELECTIVELY OPERABLE AIR DELIVERY MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID SOURCE AND MOUNTED ADJACENT TO EACH OF SAID FUEL RECEIVING MEANS FOR FACILITATING THE TRANSFER OF FUEL FROM A BURNER TO SAID FUEL RECEIVING MEANS AND EXHAUST MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID TANK FOR PERIODICALLY EMPTYING SAID TANK COMPRISING FLUID DISCHARGE MEANS EXTENDING FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID TANK TO A POINT OUTSIDE SAID HULL AND CONDUIT MEANS CONTAINING A SELECTIVELY OPERABLE VALVE AND CONNECTING SAID SOURCE TO SAID TANK. 